Dear FilmOntario Members,

We are pleased to provide this report on activities that have taken place since our last Annual General Meeting (AGM) in June 2025.

It has been another eventful year, with a number of achievements that are worth celebrating. The 50^th Toronto International Film Festival featured a record-breaking 21 films that had some connection to Ontario – made by Ontario companies, or filmed here using our world-class talent and infrastructure. One of those films, Frankenstein, received nine Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, but also recognizing the Canadian talent behind the production design, sound editing, hair, and makeup teams. And of course, the global success of the Ontario-made Heated Rivalry has had the whole world talking about the excellence of our storytellers, our costume designers who dream up iconic fleece jackets, our virtual production prowess, and locations like Hamilton being able to stand in for anywhere. We have a lot to be proud of.

In spite of these achievements, we would be remiss if we didn't acknowledge that as an industry, things are changing and these changes aren't always easy. We are seeing global industry consolidation and changing audience habits, affecting who is buying content. We are also seeing jurisdictions around the world and across Canada modernize their filming incentives, chipping away at Ontario's leading position as a competitive production centre.

These challenges have been the focus of FilmOntario's activities over the past year, and we will continue to advocate for a more competitive Ontario during the year to come. A strong and united industry voice is more important than ever, and we are grateful to all of our members for your support as we move forward, together.

Advocacy and Government Relations

We continue to hold meetings and work with MPPs from all parties in order to highlight the economic and cultural contributions of Ontario's film and television industry, as well as working with municipalities across the province. This has been a busy year, with new opportunities arising regularly, and we continue to address them as they arise.

A huge thank you to all the members who participated in meetings, attended the reception, and provided material for our highlight reel for FilmOntario's day at Queen's Park on December 1. The day was a huge success, with 26 meetings overall, including 5 Ministers, 4 Parliamentary Assistants, the Leader of the Opposition and policy staff in the Premier's Office.

It was extremely gratifying to hear from all parties at Queen's Park during our packed reception, with speakers reiterating their support and willingness to fight for our industry. We continue to hear how important the industry is in terms of jobs and investment in the province, as well as in the stories we tell.

We have also had the opportunity to tour Ministers and MPPs around sets and other industry facilities. Thank you to all of our members who assist in these tours – we know it is time consuming for your businesses, but it makes a real difference when politicians get the opportunity to witness firsthand the nature of our work and the number of jobs we create.

Protecting Film Industry Workers

At last year's AGM, we reported that work was almost complete on updating Ontario's Diving Operations regulations. We are pleased to report that amendments to this regulation officially came into force on July 1, 2025, recognizing the particular nature of the work done during underwater filming activities.

This amendment exempts employers of persons participating in a diving operation who work in the screen industry from the CSA Standard diving certification requirements, unless that person is a standby diver, diver's tender, a diving supervisor, hyperbaric chamber operator, life support technician or any person underwater to support the health and safety of persons participating in the diving operation. This brings Ontario's regulations in line with other jurisdictions.

Thank you to everyone on the Film and Television Section 21 Health and Safety Advisory Committee who provided input into these amendments, helping to ensure that our workplaces will remain safe for those participating in underwater filming. We would also like to thank Minister Piccini and his staff, as well as Minister Cho's team and the team at Ontario Creates for their assistance in moving this amendment through.

Also this year, FilmOntario was pleased to participate in the province's consultation on the regulation of talent agents in the province. Talent agencies play a vital role in the live, screen-based and recorded entertainment industries – often serving as the intermediaries between creative talent and professional opportunities.

We made written comments as part the government's consultation last summer, and were pleased to participate in Minister Piccini's announcement of the new rules governing the operation of talent agencies on April 14.

The legislation, which is currently heading to Committee for review, will strengthen transparency and oversight of payments handled by talent agencies. The proposed legislation would set a limit on commission rates, prohibit fees other than commissions and fees that are allowed by regulation, require timely payment to entertainment workers and mandate a separate bank account for funds owing to those workers.

Thank you very much to FilmOntario member ACTRA Toronto for their leadership on this issue, and to Cinespace Studios for hosting the Minister's announcement, which can be viewed here. We will continue to participate in the process as the bill moves through the Legislature.

Trade Impacts

While the explicit threat of tariffs for the film and television industry has waned since this time last year, we continue to note and follow occasional comments made by President Trump regarding the possibility of implementing tariffs on our sector. Details continue to be sparse, and while we continue to monitor developments, at the moment we are focussing on highlighting Ontario's strengths as a production jurisdiction and the excellent work all of our members do every day.

As trade talks ramp up over the next few weeks, we note that the provincial government continues to reaffirm its support for the industry and the talent in Ontario. You can see this in the Premier's comments (starts at 29:23) about the issue last October, as well as comments from Minister Cho on social media.

We will continue to watch this closely and will remain in conversation with Ontario Creates and the government if anything changes.

Federal Issues

Last year we reported on FilmOntario's participation in the CRTC's Canadian Content proceedings, providing high-level responses to the Commission's questions regarding the definition of and support for Canadian programs. While there are many details still to be worked out regarding the Commission's decision, the regulations, and financial contributions, from an Ontario perspective we were pleased to see that there were no regional quotas or other hard rules set that would disadvantage production in the province. We will continue to monitor this file and intervene as appropriate.

Following last year's federal election, FilmOntario reached out to all Ontario-based government MPs to highlight the importance of a well-funded CBC to Ontario's production industry, and engaged in staff meetings with the Department of Finance and others on the issue. Based on information provided by our labour members, we were able to highlight that from 2018 to 2024, unionized workers in the province's film and television industry – including performers, technical crew, directors and others – earned almost $400 million in wages for the equivalent of over 540,000 days worked on independent productions licensed by the CBC. The shows they worked on included international award-winning and popular productions that reflect the diversity and fabric of Canadian society: Kim's Convenience, Sort Of, Working Moms, Pretty Hard Cases, and Murdoch Mysteries, to name just a few.

We were also pleased to make a submission to the federal government's pre-budget consultation, highlighting the need to continue and increase the support provided to the CBC, Telefilm and the Canada Media Fund. These institutions are key investors in Ontario's domestic production industry, and the support they provide is crucial to maintaining Ontario's well-balanced production ecosystem. We also encouraged the government to work with the province and industry to find ways to pay out tax credits sooner.

Thanks to the leadership of the CMPA on the federal file, and with input from our members, we were pleased to see these commitments to the film and television industry in last fall's federal budget:

• $150 million over three years, starting in 2026-27, to Telefilm Canada;
• $127.5 million over three years, starting in 2026-27, to the CMF;
• $150 million in 2025-26 for the CBC "to strengthen its mandate to serve the public and to better reflect the needs of Canadians"; and
• $26.1 million over three years, starting in 2026-27, to the National Film Board to produce and share Canadian content with the world.

These investments will provide Ontario's production community with some stability and the means to create even more Canadian stories for audiences here at home and around the world, while at the same time providing employment for the 45,000 industry workers in the province.

Tax Credits & Competitiveness

At last year's AGM, Minister Cho reaffirmed his commitment to establishing a 12-week service standard for tax credit applications at Ontario Creates by the end of September 2026. As of November, 2025, Ontario Creates was reporting that turnaround times for the Ontario Film and Television Tax Credit (OFTTC) and the Ontario Production Services Tax Credit (OPSTC) were at 9-10 weeks, and turnaround times for the Ontario Computer Animation and Special Effects (OCASE) Tax Credit were at 15-16 weeks.

Anecdotally, we have heard from members that they have been receiving their Certificates of Eligibility much more quickly than these numbers suggest. This is great news for members and we look forward to having Ontario Creates maintaining these turnaround times consistently.

Competitiveness Study

That being said, other jurisdictions are moving forward on introducing new incentives and enhancing their existing ones, slowly eroding Ontario's leading position as a competitive filming jurisdiction. Therefore, as a major priority this year, we undertook a study with Nordicity to look at Ontario's competitive position and provide some recommendations for improvements.

This study was undertaken with major financial support from the CMPA, as well as confidential data provided by Ontario Creates.

It will come as no surprise that the study's findings indicate that Ontario remains one of North America's most established production jurisdictions, with deep and experienced crews across all craft areas, extensive stage infrastructure (including virtual production), internationally respected service-production capacity, and the largest domestic (Canadian-owned) production base in the country.

However, the study finds that these structural strengths are no longer sufficient on their own. As global commissioning tightens and buyers become more cost‑sensitive, incentive design increasingly determines marginal location decisions. Ontario's historical advantages are being steadily eroded as other jurisdictions pair comparable infrastructure with more aggressive and better-targeted incentive frameworks.

In terms of service production, the study found the following:

• Ontario's 21.5% all‑spend OPSTC no longer places the province among the leaders when effective rates (i.e., real subsidy as a share of total budgets after rules, caps, and stacking) are compared.
• Competitors such as British Columbia, Quebec, New York, California, and the UK now combine higher headline rates, broader eligible cost definitions, regional bonuses, repeat-business (frequency) bonuses, and producer-claimable VFX credits.

The modelling shows Ontario's disadvantage is most acute in big- and mid‑budget service productions, where even a 1–3 percentage‑point difference can translate into millions of dollars and tip decisions in a cost‑conscious market.

The OFTTC remains broadly competitive on an effective-rate basis, but the report notes that the Ontario Creates IP Fund, at approximately $8 million annually for linear content, is materially smaller than other provinces when measured both on a per capita basis, and as a share of total domestic production volume. This creates a pipeline bottleneck, where fewer projects reach production-ready status, fewer Ontario-owned projects scale internationally, and there is greater pressure to shift financing and therefore production activity to other provinces.

The study emphasizes that tax credits alone cannot sustain domestic production in a risk‑averse market; development and production investment funds increasingly determine whether projects exist to be filmed at all.

As a result, the study recommends the following measures that support domestic production to improve Ontario's competitive position (in order of effectiveness):

• Increase the amount dedicated to linear content in the Ontario Creates IP Fund by $26 million, which would align Ontario with peer provinces and create:
  • $258 million in additional production spending,
  • 4,050 FTEs, and
  • a very high return on public investment.

• Increase the base rate in the OFTTC to 40%, in order to generate a 5% increase in domestic production spending ($45 million) and support job creation (509 FTEs) and GDP growth ($52 million).
• Introduce an OFTTC tax credit advance; advancing at least 50% of a production's OFFTC claim would save producers approximately $6.3 million annually in financing costs.

Additionally, the study recommends the following measures that support service production to improve Ontario's competitive position (in order of effectiveness):

• Increase the base rate in the OPSTC to 25%, which would move Ontario into a leading effective-rate position for many budget tiers. It would also increase production spending by almost $300 million, support thousands of FTEs, and provide substantial GDP and tax revenue gains for the province.

• Expand eligible costs in OPSTC to include items that are not currently eligible (e.g., insurance, travel, etc.). This was identified as a cost-effective way to improve tax credit effectiveness without increasing the rates.
• Introduce a 6% regional bonus in the OPSTC. While this would not be a primary driver of business to the province, it would provide some incremental competitiveness for projects considering projects outside the GTA.
• Introduce a 10% repeat-business bonus, geared toward returning or high-frequency producers. This would yield approximately 5% more in service production spending, but would need to be carefully targeted to make sure it does not become an across-the-board rate increase.

Finally, the study recommended making OCASE a producer-claimable credit, in order to align Ontario with almost all comparator jurisdictions, improve the incentive's clarity and visibility, and strengthen Ontario's position in animation, VFX, and virtual production. This recommendation would be of benefit to both domestic and service production.

While the final report was not completed in time for this year's provincial Budget consultation processes, we were able to incorporate most of its findings and recommendations in to our Budget submission. We focussed on the recommendations that would have the highest potential impact, and that would strengthen Ontario's position as a well-balanced production ecosystem with strong domestic and service production sectors.

Our submission made three main requests:

1. Increase the base rate in the Ontario Film and Television Tax Credit (OFTTC) to 40% and the Ontario Production Services Tax Credit (OPSTC) to 25%;
2. Invest an additional $26 million to be directed toward the creation of linear content in the Ontario Creates Intellectual Property (IP) Fund; and
3. Make the Ontario Computer Animation and Special Effects (OCASE) tax credit a producer-claimable credit.

Unfortunately, the 2026 Budget did not contain any of the tax credit and funding enhancements that we had advocated for, but we have already begun preparing for the Fall Economic Statement, the next opportunity in the political calendar to make tax credit changes, and for the 2027 Budget. Armed with a completed study, we are streamlining our messaging and taking a more aggressive stance about the current conditions in the sector and the risks to our business if the government does not act. We hope that we can count on all of our members when the time comes to get involved in supporting this messaging later this summer and into the fall.

The Budget did contain one technical amendment to the Ontario Computer Animation and Special Effects (OCASE) tax credit, to clarify the calculation of the minimum labour expenditure threshold. This is in response to some inconsistencies in how the credit was being administered at CRA. Ministry of Finance officials have assured FilmOntario that this is meant to be a neutral change – i.e., no one should be either worse off or better off because of the change.

Partnerships and Collaboration

We continue to enjoy successful collaboration on marketing projects and other initiatives with the City of Toronto Film Office and Ontario Creates. This collaboration continues through weekly meetings and working together on various projects throughout the year.

Cynthia Lynch continues to represent FilmOntario on the Ontario Creates Screen-based Industry Advisory Committee and the City of Toronto's Film, Television and Digital Media Board. Many FilmOntario members and Board members are also on these advisory groups, and the FilmOntario Co-Chair Jayson Mosek is also the vice-chair of the Film Board. Cynthia is also part of the Durham Region Film and Television Advisory Committee.

One of the collaborations that took place last year was a familiarization tour (fam tour) with Ontario Creates in June 2025. We are looking forward to participating in a visual effects and post-production fam tour with Ontario Creates this summer, as well as a physical production fam tour currently scheduled for this fall.

We were also pleased to be asked by the Minister's Office and Ontario Creates to organize a dinner for Ontario stakeholders during Minister Cho's upcoming sales visit to Los Angeles. Thank you to all members who are joining us at that dinner.

Once again we provided support for xoTO House at the 50^th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival. This marquee event attracts hundreds of guests to celebrate the local film industry, and we look forward to continuing this partnership in the year ahead.

Finally, we are grateful for the continued collaboration with other industry organizations. Sharing data and collaborating with our colleagues has made our advocacy better and helped get results. In addition, we would like to thank the CMPA for their ongoing financial contribution to our government relations activities.

Ontario Green Screen

FilmOntario is proud to have been an Ontario Green Screen (OGS) partner since the beginning. Cynthia Lynch is currently completing her final year as industry co-chair of the Advisory Committee, and will continue to sit on many of the OGS sub-committees.

OGS now offers both of its training courses – Sustainable Film Production Fundamentals and Carbon Calculation Fundamentals – as both facilitated courses (taught virtually) and stand-alone courses that people can complete at their own pace. Almost 600 industry members and students have taken these courses.

OGS also continued to hold quarterly community meetings as well as targeted green table meetings over the past year. Thank you to FilmOntario member Jennifer Haufler for participating as a panellist in the most recent community meeting, "Talking Trash", on sustainable waste disposal practices. Cynthia also moderated this panel.

For more information on OGS and ways to get involved, please check out the website.

Communications and Digital Presence

FilmOntario continued working with its communications consultant to strengthen the organization's website and social media presence, improving discoverability for Ontario industry information. We are now close to a couple of major milestones on Instagram and LinkedIn!

We have just under 2,000 followers on Instagram, which is double where we were at this time last year. This is the major platform for those in the entertainment industries, and politicians use it actively as well. We saw nearly 40,000 views and a reach of almost 9,000 in the past year – both large increases over the previous year.

Our LinkedIn page has just under 1,000 followers, an increase of 800 over the past year. We're seeing great growth here as most corporations and executives have a presence on the platform. We saw just over 62,000 impression in the past year. Instagram and LinkedIn will continue to be our most active platforms in the year ahead.

On X/Twitter, we are holding firm at approximately 2,200 followers. Although this is not a growth platform (and many users have migrated away), it is still actively used by politicians and media so it is appropriate to continue to post and engage there. We have also registered an account on Bluesky, (the most agreed-upon X alternative), and will continue to monitor how this platform evolves.

On the website front, we had 8,300 active users visit the site over the past year – an increase of almost 60% over the previous year. We receive a lot of traffic from organic search terms, so we will aim to publish content regularly about the Ontario screen industry, which in turn will continue to strengthen our search presence.

Looking ahead, with the rise of AI search we will want to continue to ensure our website is an authority for information about the Ontario screen industry. We will aim to continue to publish blog and other page content as much as possible so that we can be found through ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot and other AI search platforms.

For social media, we are of course going to post regularly to engage with members, politicians, production companies and other entities in the screen industry to drive follower growth and reach. With a newly invigorated Communications Committee in the year ahead, we are going to work on putting together a new FilmOntario video, and will be looking for ways to edit short clips that can be cross-posted on social media to fuel further content.

Please continue to follow us on all platforms, and continue to tag and share with us so we can help share your stories, too!

Board of Directors

We would like to thank the following individuals who served on the Board during the reporting period:

Alistair Hepburn (Secretary) ACTRA Toronto		Angela Mastronardi IATSE 873
John Weber (Treasurer) Take 5 Productions ACTRA Toronto		Andy Micallef EP Canada
Mark Bishop Blue Ant Studios		Roman Neubacher IATSE 667
Stephanie Fast Frantic Films		Len Pendergast Global Incentives Inc.
Scott Garvie Shaftesbury		Rick Perotto Sunbelt Rentals
Victoria Harding Directors Guild of Canada – Ontario		Magali Simard Cinespace Studios
Alex Lalonde Frame Production Group		Jane Tattersall Formosa Group
Wesley Lui House of Cool/WildBrain		Dayna Zipursky Neshama Entertainment

In January of this year, Alistair Hepburn tendered his resignation from the Board. In accordance with the Bylaws, Article 5.3(a)(vi) and 5.3(b), the Class B Directors agreed that the vacancy would be filled by Gail Haupert, the new authorized representative from ACTRA Toronto, for the balance of Alistair's term which ends on May 22, 2027. Gail will also be taking on the role of Board Secretary.

Alistair first joined the Board in December, 2021 and made an immediate impact. He always brought his sense of humour to every meeting, advocating on behalf of his members while finding ways to reach consensus with his fellow Directors in a way that made sense for the organization as a whole. He took on the role of Board Secretary in November of 2022.

Alistair will be missed for the dedication he brought to the Board, his excellent concert reviews, and his Scotch recommendations. We wish him the best of luck in his new role as Executive Director of DGC National.

Final Reflections

The Ontario film and television industry has much to be proud of as we reflect on what has been accomplished since our last AGM. While we are not immune to the global uncertainty and rapid change that affects all parts of the economy, we have stuck together as a sector and have made some of the best content in the world – content that showcases our talents, diversity, and beautiful province – and that attracts global audiences.

As we navigate the coming months, it will serve us well to remember what has always been true – we are much stronger when we work together. We will continue to advocate for a more competitive province, one that remains the best place in the world to make film and television.

Thank you for your ongoing support of FilmOntario.

WE COULDN'T DO IT WITHOUT OUR MEMBERS

Respectfully submitted,

Vanessa Steinmetz               Jayson Mosek